The Ten Commandments - 1 & 2

Exodus 20:1-17

We are going to spend this week studying the Ten Commandments in detail. I hope you will join me each day as we look at God's moral law for our lives. These commandments are truly already written on our hearts. As we study each of them, I think we will all find that we know that these guidelines are true and right, and are how we should live our lives.

In studying this recently, I found something very interesting. In the pictures we see of Moses carrying the Ten Commandments, there are always two tablets. Scholars have said that the commandments were divided different ways, either five and five or four and six. Now the view is that each tablet contained the entire Ten Commandments, one copy belonging to the people and the other belonging to God Himself. God was entering into a covenant with His people. He took it very serious. He kept a copy for Himself.

Today we will look closely at the first two commandments...

The First Commandment: "You shall have no other gods before me."

The first commandment begins exactly where we would expect. God is outlining our relationship with Him first and the fact that we are to have no other gods. Obviously idol worship, such as the worship of Zeus, Rameses, Baal or any other pagan deity was forbidden. Before you check this one off as a no brainer, let me give you something to think about. We break this commandment when we look to other sources, such as astrology, for direction. We break this commandment when we give anyone or anything first place in our lives. We must look at our priorities and see if we have made anything else a god in our lives. Lastly, we also break this commandment when we substitute ourselves for God by making up our own moral code. Our society teaches us that as long as someone is sincere in their beliefs that is okay. No, that is wrong. We do not set the standard, God does.

The Second Commandment: "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below."

At first glance, this commandment seems to just be a continuation of the first. But, the first commandment deals with the object of our worship - which is to be God and God alone. This commandment deals with the manner of our worship. We are not to worship even God Almighty in an unworthy manner. An unworthy manner would be by forming an image that is supposed to be Him and bowing down to it. Why? J.I. Packer goes into great detail as to why this is wrong in his book Knowing God. To paraphrase what he says, there are two reasons:

1. "Images dishonor God". There is nothing in all creation to compare God to. He is incomparable in greatness, beauty and splendor. To try to do so, belittles Him. Isaiah 40:18 asks us, "To whom, then, will you compare God? What image will you compare him to?" The question itself demands our silence.

2. "Images mislead men". When an image is made to represent the Almighty, men get confused. We may begin to think that whatever the image is, is God or represents all the power, might, and wisdom that He has. This just simply is not true.

A hard question to ask ourselves in dealing with the second commandment, is how do I see God? Do I accept the modern church culture that pictures God as a grandfather that is so happy when I stop by, or as an indulgent parent that does not know what to do with his rebellious children? If we have allowed ourselves to picture God in this way, we are in danger of breaking this commandment. He is a Holy God who cannot and will not be compared with anyone or anything.

Ask God today to show you how and where you may be breaking these first two commandments. Let me tell you that this week of study may be difficult as we truly look into God's law, but I believe it is so important to know what God expects of us. Seek God, confess and repent if you need to. And remember, I would not be writing any of this if God had not already broken my heart over it.